Watertown's Former Five-Term Mayor Offers His Take on Life in the North Country and Beyond

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Cash for drunkards - NYPOST.com

This silly media fuss over electronic benefit cards misses the point. Apparently the NY Post "discovered" that the welfare debit cards were being used in liquor stores, strip bars, convenience stores and hookah parlors, leading to the conclusion that the poor taxpayers are funding drunken orgies by the poor.
The implication is the business where a ATM is located is somehow in need of attention from Eric Schneiderman.
First of all, if somebody comes in to use the ATM, whether at my bar or in the lobby of City Hall, we don't know how or where the money will be spent. As long as its legally obtained with a crowd accepted by the machine, it's OK.
If the government only wants it to work in certain places, its up to them to come up with the technology.
Second, the abuse and waste is not from a lap dance or a cocktail. It's manifest in a system that says here's cash, you spend it as you like. No stigmas here.
If I give you $20, I have a First Amendment right to tell you how I think you should spend it, but beyond that, its now your money to do with what you want.
Someone needs to explain the difference to the NY Post.Cash for drunkards - NYPOST.com

3 comments:

Anonymous
said...

What if you give your money to a contractor and they spend it on coke instead of putting on your new roof? I don't think there is anything that stops us from passing laws to tell people how they have to spend their money. The SCOTUS just said so with the illogical Obamcare ruling.

I do not think anyone should be left to starve or bleed.I also do not seek to judge the behavior of anyone as long as they are not hurting another human being. I do have a big problem handing over tax payer program dollars so that the non-producers of society can get drunk, stoned and eat junk food. Welfare should be a state run program and the state could probably save a lot of money by simply setting up county by county food banks for the poor and homeless instead of just handing out money.

A few years ago, the only establishments where unemployment recipients could take their money from the unemployemnt debit card via an ATM without being charged the processing fee were bars, because those were the only places in the vast majority of NNY where Bank of America (who had the contract for those cards) had their own ATMs.